hrv.expert

Readiness score

Also called recovery score, readiness scores, recovery scores

A single number, often out of 100, that a device builds from your HRV, resting heart rate, sleep and other inputs to suggest how ready you are for the day. The weighting is not published.

A readiness or recovery score squeezes several overnight measures into one number with a colour. Oura’s Readiness Score is an example: it runs from 0 to 100, with 85 or more labelled optimal and under 70 “pay attention”. Oura lists its inputs as recent sleep, sleep balance and regularity, the previous day’s activity and activity balance, resting heart rate Resting heart rate How many times your heart beats per minute while you are fully at rest. For adults it is usually 60 to 100 beats per minute, and lower in well-trained athletes. More about Resting heart rate , HRV balance, body temperature and a recovery index. Each is compared with your own usual values, not with other people. Google’s readiness score, which began as Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Score, uses fewer inputs (HRV, recent sleep and resting heart rate) and needs 7 nights before the first score. Neither page says how the inputs are weighted.

Why it matters for HRV.

  • HRV is one input of many. A low score can come from a short night or a raised temperature while your HRV is normal, and the other way round.
  • Every score compares you with your own baseline Baseline Your own usual HRV level and range, built from weeks of readings taken the same way. Comparing a reading with your baseline says more than comparing it with other people. More about Baseline . That makes it useful for spotting a change, and it means a new device or a reset starts from scratch.
  • Scores from different makers are not comparable. They use different inputs, windows and weights. The millisecond HRV and resting heart rate behind the score are the numbers to track over time.

The model below shows the idea every score rests on: today’s reading judged against a 7-day average and your usual range.

With nothing going on, single readings still swing between 37 and 57 ms. The 7-day average stays between 45 and 49 ms.

Add something that happens
Simulated readings, not real data. Add something that happens and compare how far one morning moves with how far the 7-day average moves.

For the inputs each device uses, see Recovery scores explained.

Sources

  1. Your Oura Readiness Score & How To Measure It Oura
  2. Understanding your readiness score in the Google Health app Google Health Help Center

All glossary terms